Malta System of early education/care and professionalisation in
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System of early education/care
and professionalisation in
Malta
Report commissioned by the
State Institute of Early Childhood Research (IFP)
Munich, Germany
Submitted by
Dr. Valerie Sollars
Dean, Faculty of Education
Department of Primary Education
University of Malta
Msida, Malta
Submission date: June 2007
The seepro project was funded by the German Federal Ministry for
Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and YouthGeneral information
Malta is the largest of the archipelago of five islands in the middle of the Mediterranean.
With a land mass of 316 square kilometres, an estimated population of 404,306 and 1,282
persons per square kilometre, Malta is the most densely populated country in Europe,
(NSO, 2006a). Some 50.4% of the population is made up of women; about 3.2% are fo-
reign citizens. There are no fluctuations in the population owing to migration1 and the
increase in population is attributed to the difference in births and deaths.
Considering the initiatives taken in the field of early childhood education and care in
Malta over the past decade, ECEC is on the agenda of two government ministries: the
Ministry of Family and Social Solidarity (MFSS) as well as the Ministry of Education,
Youth and Employment (MEYE). The reason for the divide and interest in two sectors
arises from the fact that child-care centres fall under the responsibility of the MFSS, whe-
reas KG and compulsory schooling are the responsibility of the MEYE.
Compulsory schooling starts at the age of 5. KG provision is widely available for 3
and 4 year-olds. Although this is not compulsory, some 98% of children attend KG regu-
larly. Child-care centres are the most recent early childhood service in the Maltese society
with the earlier ones starting their operation in the mid-90s. Child-care centres typically
cater for children between the ages of 3 months to 3 years. Putting children into care at
the age of three months links to the 13 weeks paid maternity leave which mothers are
entitled to. However, there are also instances where babies younger than three months are
already in care because of the mother’s work commitments. Moving infants from child-
care centres to KG centres occurs around the age of three as this is the first year of admis-
sion to Kindergarten.
Contextual data
The birth rate in the Maltese islands has been on the decline for years. The 3,858 live
births in 2005 imply a decrease of 55% in comparison to 1960 (NSO, May 80/2007).
Year Males Females Total
1996 2619 2419 5038
1997 2536 2312 4848
1998 2405 2265 4670
1999 2239 2164 4403
2000 2174 2218 4392
2001 2037 1920 3957
2002 2048 1870 3918
2003 2029 2021 4050
2004 1998 1889 3887
2005 1984 1874 3858
2
2006 2040 1845 3885
Tab. 1 Total live births between 1996 and 2006
1
According to 2005 figures, there were 187 returned migrants and foreign settlers, 187 new work permit holders and 624
adoptions, registrations and naturalisation. There is no data for emigration but estimates on past data suggest about 70.
(NSO, 2006a).
2
This figure was announced in Naming Babies, the NSO News Release of 16 May 2007.
1Ages Males Females Total
0 to 4-year-olds 9693 9203 18896
0 1846 1751 3597
1 1897 1794 3691
2 1958 1956 3914
3 2002 1814 3816
4 1990 1888 3878
Tab. 2 Maltese children3 by sex and single years of age: 31st December 2005
Births outside marriage are on the increase. In 2005, 20.1% of births were to single
mothers; 26.9% of all mothers were single mothers aged 20 or younger, whereas 35.8%
were between 20 and 24 years of age (NSO, 2006a).
Year Number % of total live births
1986 80 1.5
1990 95 1.8
1996 289 5.8
2000 464 10.6
2005 779 20.2
Tab. 3 Live births outside marriage; Source: NSO, 80/2007, 15 May 2007
At 34.9%, the number of women in full-time employment is the lowest among the EU
countries (Eurostats, 2007)4. There are sharp contrasts between the number of men and
women in both full and part-time employment, with more women than men having a part-
time job exclusively.
Total number in part-time employment 44,157 100%
Part-timers who hold full-time job 19,608 – 100% 44.4%
Men 14,291 – 72.9% 32.4%
Women 5,317 – 27.1% 12%
Part-timers as a primary job 24,549 – 100% 55.6%
Men 9,821 - 40% 22.2%
Women 14,728 - 60% 33.4%
3
Figures based on 391,906 as the total population. If one were to include births to foreigners residing in Malta (total popula-
tion 404,346), the total number of children aged 0 to 4 is 19,697; total number of children aged 5 to 7 is 13,315).
4
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page?_pageid=1996,39140985&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&screen=detailre
f&language=en&product=Yearlies_new_population&root=Yearlies_new_population/C/C4/C41/em012
2Total number in full-time employment 139,456 100%
Men 97,015 69.6%
Women 42,441 30.4%
Tab. 4 Employment patterns for males and females – November 2006; Source: NSO,
April 55/2007
According to local statistics, 57% of inactive women, aged 15 to 64 report that they are
not looking for work because of personal or family responsibilities whereas 8.9% report
that they are looking after children or incapacitated adults (NSO, March 37/2007)5. Of
the 84,161 married women aged 15 to 64, only 26.7% are in employment. In contrast,
48.1% of unmarried women are in employment. There seem to be a number of reasons
which contribute to this situation.
For many years, the local culture has predominantly attributed the role of child-
rearing and child-minding to women. Men have traditionally been considered to be the
breadwinners whilst the women stay at home to raise the family. Although parental leave
benefits have been introduced to encourage dads to stay home with their young children,
very few Maltese men are making use of these benefits. For example, in a recent EU pro-
ject Modern man in an enlarged Europe, in which Malta participated with Lithuania,
Iceland and Denmark, only 10 men in Malta were identified as participants for the study
on the basis of their having availed themselves of paternal leave within five years preced-
ing the study (Centre for Equality Advancement, 2005). Other studies have found similar
trends: a survey among 518 families focusing on satisfaction with child-care centres and
small private KG centres indicated that in 49.6% of the participating families, the mother
had been the person responsible for looking after the child prior to utilising child-care or
KG services. For 24.9% of families, various people were identified with this responsibil-
ity. The father was identified as the person who looked after the child before using child-
minding facilities in 1% of the families (Sollars, 2002). Another study looking into the
impact of parental leave, career break and responsibility leave in the Maltese public sec-
tor illustrated that the uptake of parental leave and career breaks is dominated by women
(98.4% against 1.6% taken by men) (Ministry of Social Policy, 2003). Such results con-
firm that parental leave and child-rearing are predominantly for women. It seems that
men and possibly women are reluctant to move from their traditional gender stereotyped
roles.
It is to be noted that there is some difference in parental leave entitlement for em-
ployees in the public and private sectors. Employees in the public sector are entitled to a
one-year unpaid parental leave for every child, until the child is six-years-old as well as
an unpaid five-year break in career until the child is six-years-old. The maximum five
years can only be utilised once but can be divided and taken partially with subsequent
children. In the private sector, parental leave is usually of a three-month duration.
Apart from cultural reasons, decisions which influence whether women are in em-
ployment relate to financial and economic ones. Men earn more than women in all jobs
(NSO, March 37/2007). This could therefore be another factor contributing to a low fe-
male participation in employment. If a parent is to withdraw from work permanently or
temporarily, the obvious choice would be for the lower-income parent to do so. Although
5
Overall inactive rate for women in 2005 stood at 62%.
3parental benefits have been increased the only period of time covered by payment is the
13 weeks of maternity leave6.
Families are entitled to a children’s allowance if the total income of the family does
not supersede 23,922 Euros. In families where there are four or more children, or even a
disabled child, the income of the family should not supersede 30,910 Euros for entitle-
ment of the allowance. This allowance continues to be paid to children between the ages
of 16 and 21, as long as they are in full-time education and have no additional remunera-
tion. The allowance paid is calculated on a percentage on the difference between 23,922
Euros and the income declared of the previous year (Ministry of Family & Social Solidar-
ity, 2007).
Finally, family-friendly measures at the place of work, which could support parents to
reconcile family and work commitments seem to be difficult to introduce. About 12% of
the employed population with child-caring responsibilities have to make use of vacation
leave or have a specific working arrangement when the children are on holidays or when
the child-care centre they normally use is not available (NSO, Feb 24/2006). Some 43.5%
of people in employment claim that changing the start or end of their working day by at
least an hour because of family reasons is not possible. In addition, 53.9% of employed
persons claim that they do not have the possibility of working extra hours on some days
to enable them to take days off for family reasons. It is interesting to note that in this lat-
ter result, there were no gender differences (NSO, Feb 24/2006). Finally, 67.9% of
women and 64.3% of men believe that the main reason why employed people take vaca-
tion leave or make other work arrangements whilst children are on holidays is because
there is no one to take care of the children during the day.
In the first ever survey on income and living conditions, national statistics indicated
that 15.5% of women and 14.2% of men are at-risk of poverty, whilst 21.9% of children
under the age of 16, fall below the poverty line (NSO, May 75/2007). Children living in
single parent households are amongst the most vulnerable groups, with 47.9% of such
households being at-risk of poverty (NSO, May 75/2007). Earlier data show that between
October and December 2004, 9.5% of children under the age of 17 (9,274) lived in job-
less households; 16.4% of people living in jobless households where children aged 0 to
14 years (NSO, July 145/2005)7.
Data on provision of early childhood services
Early childhood services in Malta incorporate child-care centres and kindergarten centres.
The former generally cater for the under 3s whereas KG is for 3 and 4 year-olds. The
child-care centres are almost exclusively private enterprises although several employers
have invested in offering child-care facilities for their employees. Whereas most child-
care facilities are independent of any other institution and operate in isolation, most of the
KG centres are attached to schools. This is the case for State KG centres as well as KG
centres in the Private and Church sectors. In addition, there are a number of small, private
KG centres which are entirely independent of any school.
6
Expectant mothers in employment are entitled to 14 weeks of leave, 13 of which are paid.
7
Further details about family support services available for children and their families in Malta are available in Sollars (in
press), Children’s issues in Malta. To be published in a six-volumed encyclopaedia by Greenwood publishers.
4Child-care centres
Child-care centres are relatively new within the Maltese context with the earlier ones
dating to the mid-90s. They are primarily, although not exclusively targeted for families
where the parents are in full-time employment. Earlier research had indicated that child-
care facilities are also used by parents where the mother is not in employment (Sollars,
2002). Whereas 64.5% of parents using child-care centres reported that they did so in
order to continue to work, 55.3% also reported using such centres because of the social
benefit it offered for their children (Sollars, 2002). On the other hand, more recent data
suggest that child-care centres or paid child-minding services appear to be the least fa-
vourite form of child-minding for children under the age of 14: some 21.5% of respon-
dents claim that they rely on the husband, wife or partner living in the same house to
mind the children when one adult is at work; 12.7% do not use any form of care although
the parent is at work; 5.3% recruit the support of friends or relatives without any form of
payment and only 0.8% report that they use a child-care centre or child minder (NSO, Feb
24/2006).
Currently there is no complete data compiled about the number of children actually
registered in child-care centres or even the number of child-care centres in operation. The
service has been totally unregulated thus far and no license is required to run a child-care
facility. However, changes are being introduced gradually and these will eventually lead
to stricter controls. In 2002, the then Minister of Social Policy set up a Technical Com-
mittee for child day care centres. Among its specific tasks, the committee was to:
• Develop standards for service provision
• Develop the sector’s regulatory framework
• Set up a child-care inspectorate
• Identify and develop methods of encouragement for private sector initiatives
• Explore, develop and propose methods of supporting service users.
Since the setting up of the Committee, National Standards for Child day care facilities
have been published (MFSS, July 2006) following a consultation document which had
been circulated two years earlier. The standards are presented from a user’s perspective,
hoping to raise parents’ expectations about suitable and quality services for young chil-
dren. Ten standards were defined including: suitable persons; the physical environment;
premises and equipment; management and organisation; health & safety of children; care,
learning & play; working in partnership with parents; behaviour management; child pro-
tection; food and drink; equal opportunities and children with special needs. An appendix
follows each standard to elaborate on the main items (MFSS, July 2006).
The Department for Social Welfare Standards (DSWS) within the MFSS has been en-
trusted with the responsibility of monitoring, assessing and regulating the sector. This
task is being done by a group of social workers, currently referred to as assessors. One of
the first tasks taken by the Department has been the drawing up of a framework for the
registration and assessment of Child-Day Care facilities. Existing child-care centres were
invited to contact the Department with a view to getting a provisional registration. This
implies that potentially there are centres in operation which have not got in touch with the
DSWS. It is even more difficult to obtain information for home-based care. In fact, this
type of care is very absent from the records of any department or Ministry.
In order to establish how close existing and potential day care centres are to the pro-
posed standards, a gap analysis exercise was conducted in 2005 (DSWS, Nov 2005).
Service providers identified a number of barriers to the implementation of the then pro-
posed standards. Difficulties were perceived in connection with Standard 1, the employ-
5ment of qualified personnel to work in the centres and Standard 2, referring to the physi-
cal environment, premises and equipment. Five real concerns were expressed:
• Lack of, or difficulties in coming across appropriate training courses;
• Better qualified staff would opt to move to employment that offers better working
conditions;
• The additional labour hours and costs that achievement of some of the standards
would require.
• An increase in the cost of labour that would bring about a significant increase in re-
current expenditure that would necessitate raising fees considerably or terminating
service delivery.
• An increased expenditure of a capital nature.
One of the specific difficulties perceived by providers and which is linked to Stan-
dard 1 concerns the carer to child ratios. The National Standards propose the following
ratios:
Age of Children Children per carer
0 to 12 months 3
13 to 24 months 5
25 to 36 months 6
Mixed group 6 (one of which can be under 18 months)
Tab. 5 Carer to Child ratios; Source: National Standards for Child Day Care Facilities
(2006)
Service providers are aware that in order to adhere to these ratios, they will need to
increase the fees. However, a hike in fees could effectively discourage parents from mak-
ing use of the service unless subsidies are introduced.
In its own process of becoming a department responsible for maintaining Social Wel-
fare Standards, the Department is working towards raising awareness of what service
users are to expect from child day care services, helping providers in the introduction of
the service standards to be adopted by Government and in paving the way to becoming
compliant with them (DSWS, Nov, 2005). Sufficient time is therefore being allowed for
the providers to implement the standards. The implications arising from having a better or
highly-trained workforce will be elaborated upon in the subsequent section of this chap-
ter.
To date, 268 centres have been given a provisional registration. Between them, these
centres have 610 children between the ages of 0 to 39. There are a further 16 centres
which are in operation but are yet to be contacted by the Department, three centres are
awaiting the provisional registration and three proposed centres are in the construction
phase as part of a building complex.
The gap-analysis exercise was also conducted in a bid to find out what potential
child-care facilities could offer. The Employment Training Corporation10 (ETC) had ap-
8
This includes four schools who have entered the child-care field. Between them, they have 221 children under the age of
3. A list of the centres is available at: http://www.childcaremalta.org/etc/content.aspx?id=43594
9
Some of the centres have older children as they offer after school and summer school services.
10
The Employment Training Corporation is Malta’s Public Employment Service.
6plied for and received European Social Funds in order to support employers to set-up
child-care facilities close to places of work, as an incentive for mothers to remain in the
labour market. The project was divided in two: the training of child-carers and providing
a package of incentives to small and medium enterprises in order to encourage them to
start-up and run childcare services at the place of work. The incentives included:
• A start-up grant of 900 Euros for each organisation to adapt premises for toddlers and
children;
• A start-up grant of 1500 Euros for each organisation to purchase equipment and fur-
nish the premises adequately;
• Half the salaries of trained child carers for the project lifetime (up to 3 carers per
organisation)11.
Around 60 employers had shown an interest and applied to take part in the project
and benefit from these incentives. However, only three eventually took up the offer; 57 of
those who applied could not make use of funds. The main reason cited was the inadequate
premises available to set-up the child-care centre (personal communication, May 2007).
This suggests that a total of about 48 child-care centres are operational.
Kindergarten centres
Kindergarten centres are much more widespread than child-care centres. State KG provi-
sion started in 1975 for 4-year-olds and was extended to 3-year-olds in 1988. State KG
schools are attached to the primary school in every town and village in Malta. KG provi-
sion was introduced for a number of reasons (Ministry of Education, 2006):
• To provide children with opportunities to socialise and develop their abilities under
guidance;
• To provide children with opportunities to develop and catch up with the others espe-
cially if they came from homes lacking suitable educational opportunities;
• As remote preparation for entry into primary schools;
• To provide relief for working mothers.
State KG centres have the same opening hours as primary schools (08.30 – 14.30).
They also follow the same timetable as the schools which means that they are closed for
two weeks at Christmas, one week at Easter and just under three months in summer.
Although state KG centres were always attached to the primary school, they were not
always the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. For some time, KG centres were
the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Policy, suggesting that they were seen as a
social service rather than an educational opportunity. Yet, parents had argued that send-
ing children to school at the age of 3 rather than the age of 5 was one way of preparing
children for compulsory school. Consequently, one impact of having KG centres so
closely linked to schools has been on their daily practices. Unfortunately, some activities
and practices which have seeped through to KG stages are not highly appropriate for the
age group.
The late 1980s also saw an increase in the number of small, private KG centres which
are not attached to any school. Many of these small KG centres were set up in town
houses and big villas, parts of which were sectioned off for the playschool whilst the ser-
vice providers continued to live in other quarters. These KG centres usually have very
11
Payment of half the cost of a child carer was to be matched by the organisation (proposed salary of 10,000Euros per
annum plus statutory benefits).
7reduced opening hours and operate between 09.00 and noon or 12.30. Some offer ex-
tended hours, against additional payment to better accommodate working parents. Nor-
mally, the extended hours are up to 13.30. Yet, these hours are hardly sufficient for a
mother to keep part-time employment (Sollars, 2002).
Several Church schools have provided KG services for 3 and 4-year-old children for
many years. However, there is no collated documentation about the history of these cen-
tres. Most of the Church KG centres are also linked to their own primary and in some
instances, the secondary school. This means that a child who attends a Church-school for
KG provision can receive his/her entire subsequent 11 years of compulsory schooling
within the same complex.
Independent private schools are also offering the possibility of having children with
them for the entire education. Some have invested in child-care centres recently, after
having extended their services to KG facilities too, in addition to their primary and sec-
ondary schools.
The changes in provisions and availability in the Independent sector have had an im-
pact on the small private KG establishments. Rather than accepting three and four-year-
old children only, many have started accepting younger children in order to make their
business feasible. By accepting children under the age of 3, no legislation is being
flouted. Whilst it is necessary to have a license and permits from the Education Division
to operate an educational establishment even for KG aged children, to date, there is only
the provisional registration given by the DSWS for child-care centres. On the other hand,
the clear distinction which used to exist between child-care and KG centres is beginning
to be somewhat blurred. The fact that to date child-care and KG services fall under sepa-
rate Ministries but appear to be coming closer together by default rather than design,
highlights the necessity for more dialogue at all levels to deal with practices and policies
related to early childhood education and care.
In all there are 62 state KG centres, 28 Church-run centres and 21 private, independ-
ent centres. Tables 6, 7 and 8 illustrate the number of three and four-year-old children
attending all forms of KG provision together with the number of groupings12. Legally,
there can be a maximum of 15 three-year-olds with one KG assistant and a maximum of
20 four-year-olds with one KG assistant. According to the data in the tables below,
within state schools, the average number of three-year-olds in one group is about 13
whilst there is an average of just under 16 four-year-olds per group. Church and Inde-
pendent schools have higher ratios: 19 and 17.5 three-year-olds per group and 20 and 18
four-year-olds per group respectively.
Data for scholastic year 2006-2007 indicate that 3,892 three-year-olds and 4,312
four-year-olds are attending KG. Considering data of annual births, these figures suggest
that practically all three and four-year-olds attend a KG centre. According to Eurostats
(2006), 97.5% of four-year-olds were attending KG centres in Malta in 2005. A further
indication of how well attended KG centres are can be seen from data providing the num-
ber of new pupils registered at the age of 3, 4 and 5 who had never attended school before
(Table 9).
12
Source: Education Division personnel, May 2007.
8Kindergarten 1 (3-year-olds) Kindergarten 2 (4-year-olds)
Boys Girls Total Groups Boys Girls Total Groups
MALTA 1194 1227 2421 184 1464 1304 2768 172
GOZO 80 94 174 17 100 76 176 16
Total 1274 1321 2595 201 1564 1380 2944 188
Tab. 6 KG children in State school centres (2006-2007)13
Kindergarten 1 (3-year-olds) Kindergarten 2 (4-year-olds)
Boys Girls Total Groups Boys Girls Total Groups
MALTA 205 185 390 19 252 427 679 32
GOZO 56 61 117 8 57 46 103 8
Total 261 246 507 27 309 473 782 40
Tab. 7 KG children in Church schools (2006-2007)
Kindergarten 1 (3-year-olds) Kindergarten 2 (4-year-olds)
Boys Girls Total Groups Boys Girls Total Groups
MALTA 399 391 790 45 402 287 689 38
Total 399 391 790 45 402 287 689 38
Tab. 8 KG children in Independent schools (2006-2007)
3 year-olds 4-year-olds 5-year-olds
Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls
State KG
973 934 131 128 7 7
centres
Church KG
228 224 97 119 2 29
centres
Independent
418 372 117 125 2 11
KG centres
TOTAL 1619 1530 345 372 11 47
Grand Total 3149 717 58
Tab. 9 New pupils who had never attended school before (31st March 2005)
13
Data as at March 31st 2007. There are 3 intakes for three-year-olds in state schools. The 1st intake is in October; the 2nd
intake is in January, for children who would have turned 3 since the previous intake. The 3rd intake is after the Easter
break for children who would have turned 3 in the first months of the year. State school data are updated ever quarter.
Church school data are updated annually.
9According to National Statistics, the number of foreign children attending state KG
centres is very low (NSO, 2007a). In the scholastic year 2004/2005, there were 15 three-
year-olds, 24 four-year-olds and 7 five-year-old foreign pupils. The countries of origin
varied and included: Algeria (2), Erithrea (4), UK (10), Sudan (3), Somalia (2), Italy (2),
Russia (3), Tunisia (2), Germany (2), and individuals from Bulgaria, Canada, India, Iraq,
Libya, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria and USA amongst others. Within Church
schools, there were two foreign children in the KG classes: a Romanian and a Turkish
child (NSO, 2007a). Within Independent private schools there were 72 foreign pupils14.
An inclusive educational policy was introduced in state schools in 1995. Conse-
quently, more children with disabilities were admitted to mainstream schools rather than
in special schools. According to data presented in a review of inclusive and special educa-
tion, of 7771 children attending KG in Malta and Gozo, 58 children (0.75%) with dis-
abilities were attending state KG centres; 19 (0.24%) were in Church KG centres (Minis-
try of Education, Youth & Employment, 2005). At the time data were compiled for the
review, there were no statemented children in Independent KG centres. However, chil-
dren with disabilities are not turned away from Independent schools if registered there.
One contributing factor which could determine parents’ decision in the choice of a
suitable educational setting for their child relates to support. In State schools, the Educa-
tion Division provides support by allocating to a class, a learning support assistant. In
practice class support is given either on a one-to-one basis (one assistant to one student
with individual educational needs), or on a shared basis, depending on the particular
needs of the student. The assistant is expected to support all the children in the class, but
to pay particular attention to the needs of the statemented student/s (Ministry of Educa-
tion, 2005). In Church schools, additional teaching assistants are allocated on the same
model as in State schools, albeit recruited through a different procedure. They are funded
by the state, according to the Holy See-State agreement on Church schools of 1991. Cur-
rently, Independent schools get no State support for additional staff for children who need
support and the burden of financing a teaching assistant usually falls on the parents. One
of the recommendations made by the review team is for this discrepancy to be rectified.
As stated earlier, because most KG centres are linked to schools, they follow the
same time-table where opening hours and operational days are concerned. This means
that by half-past two (for a few schools dismissal time is three o’clock), children of all
ages would be out of school or their KG centres. A few Independent private schools offer
extra curricular activities against additional payment. However, the majority of children
are at home in the afternoon as schools close soon after dismissal. This means parents
have to collect children or make arrangements for the children to be collected. For many
parents who are in full-time employment, the extended family is generally very suppor-
tive.
There are many after-school activities which children of all ages can participate in:
children can go for music lessons, ballet, drama, football nurseries etc. but virtually all
14
Countries of origin of foreign pupils in Independent schools included one each from Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia,
Egypt, Gaza, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Lebanon, the Philippines, South Korea, Sweden, USA and FR Yugoslavia; two or
more children from China, France, Germany, Italy, Libya, Syria, Russia and the UK.
10arrangements are private decisions parents would make. Additionally, these after-school
activities naturally imply further financial commitments for families15.
As far as governance and curricula for the early years are concerned, early years set-
tings are rather free to organise their programme of activities. The National Minimum
Curriculum (NMC) (1999) was the first curriculum to recognise Kindergarten Education
as a phase in the education process. Whilst promoting the holistic development of the
child, the specific aims of KG education are intellectual, physical, socio-emotional, moral
and religious development together with the development of a sense of aesthetics and
creativity. The NMC also highlights the effective tools that facilitate the holistic devel-
opment of children. These include:
• A physical environment that is of good quality;
• Educators as animators;
• Resources;
• Early assessment;
• Play as the key pedagogical means.
The extent to which the curriculum has actually been implemented is difficult to de-
termine. Within the state sector, the service is currently provided and regulated by the
same body, namely the Education Division. Whilst being responsible for offering the
state school service, this central education authority is also responsible to ensure that all
educational settings, State, Church and Independent adhere to and promote sound prac-
tices. Church and Independent schools have more autonomy in whom to employ and
choice of text-books amongst other things. In State schools, teaching staff is assigned to
schools by the central administration.
Periodically, the schools also receive notices concerning the curriculum. Such infor-
mation is the responsibility of the Education Officers together with the Directorate for
Curriculum and Management.
The Education Division had one Education Officer responsible for KG and the first
two years of primary. Apart from providing support to staff in all schools for KG centres
and the first two years of compulsory school, the Education Officer was responsible for
curriculum matters and in-service courses. One noteworthy document was the Guidelines
and suggestions for the implementation of the curriculum in kindergarten (January 2002).
The publication provides practical suggestions and an interpretation of the curriculum to
“help KG assistants plan their work by focusing on the holistic development of children”
(p.5). Owing to the lack of staff at the Education Division within the area of early child-
hood, for a very long time, staff at KG centres and teachers in the first two years of pri-
mary school have been left to work unsupervised and unmonitored.
15
An in-depth study on how children (7 to 15-year-olds) spend their time after school hours is
available in Sollars, V. (2006). Children’s right to play. A Study of Maltese Children's
Perceptions on Cultural and Recreational Activities. Malta: Office of the Commissioner
for Children. Available:
http://www.crin.org/docs/CFC_Children's%20Right%20to%20Play.pdf
11Data on personnel
Professional pre-service and in-service training for personnel working with newborn to
five-year-old children is one of the most challenging issues in Malta.
Training of staff working in child day care centres is a very recent development in
Malta. The same can be said of the majority of service providers who own and run child-
care centres. Typically, staff employed to work in this service would be mothers who
have raised a family and are therefore considered by the service providers to be suitable
to look after children at the centre. Given these circumstances, service providers could
therefore afford to employ child - minders on a part-time basis, with a very low remu-
neration paid by the hour.
The sector is at present benefiting from the willingness of unqualified staff to work for
low remuneration and to accept working conditions that do not guarantee security of
tenure. The providers can call upon part-timers according to need and can thus ride over
low demand periods of business without being burdened with heavy overheads (DSWS,
2005)
Child minders working in child-care centres are currently paid less than 5 Euros an
hour (personal communication, May 2007). Thus, adhering to the first standard as identi-
fied in the national standards may be a goal which is agreed upon by all but the implica-
tions of having a qualified workforce need to be anticipated. Qualified, trained personnel
will not accept to work in circumstances where working conditions and remuneration are
not commensurate with their qualifications and responsibilities. Government subsidies
have been recommended as an option which could potentially stem a high turnover, thus
helping to retain the trained workforce.
The 91 child-care workers employed in 24 of the 26 centres which have to date been
given a provisional registration have the following qualifications (personal communica-
tion, June 2007):
Number of carers Type of qualification
61 ETC qualification
5 Montessori
1 MCAST qualification
1 International Cambridge qualification
12 Completing the ETC course; awaiting results
5 Waiting to being course
5 Unqualified in childcare
1 Experienced in childcare but lacks qualifica-
tions
Tab. 10 Qualifications of employed child-care workers
Two entities are predominantly responsible for training child-care workers: the ETC
and the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST). The latter is the insti-
tution responsible for vocational courses. One of the main differences between the two
entities concerns the students targeted: ETC aims at training or retraining citizens for the
12labour market whereas MCAST targets school leavers who, at the age of 16 opt to go for
vocational qualifications rather than pursue University courses.
ETC embarked on training for child-care workers in 2001 and by the time European
Social Funds were secured in 2005, the course had already run four times (personal
communication, June 2007). Between 2005 and 2007, 11 courses were organised with
support from the European Social Funds. The students of the first set of courses were
primarily service providers and child-care workers already in employment. About 69
service providers and child-care workers were trained in the first courses. Apart from
practitioners, subsequent training was directed at increasing opportunities for women in
the labour market and intended to prepare participants to work with children from birth to
five years of age. Although not advertised as being exclusively for women, no males have
followed any of the courses. It is anticipated that the course will resume sometime be-
tween October and December 2007 as part of the ETC training courses (personal commu-
nication, June 2007).
According to ETC documentation, the objective of the course is:
…for childcare workers in crèches, day-care and KG centres, under the general su-
pervision of a crèche or centre manager while having responsibility for the care of indi-
vidual or groups of children and of making lower-level day-to-day planning and decision
making as regards the care of children, aged 0-5 years, who are in her/his charge.
The course is divided into three phases to incorporate a theoretical as well as a practi-
cal component. Phase one is 120 hours long and establishes the underpinning theoretical
knowledge in the areas of child development and childcare; phase two is 180 hours long.
It reviews and discusses theories and methods of Early Childhood Education. Phase
three consists of 500 hours of practice in childcare centres and incorporates practice with
babies, toddlers and two to five-year-old children in various childcare settings. Students
can proceed to the practical and methodological components upon passing an exam at the
end of the theoretical part. Phases two and three run concurrently.
Although each of the 11 courses funded through ESF had an intake of about 22 par-
ticipants, certification for this course will be awarded to 130 participants who success-
fully completed the course. It is not yet clear what recognition the ETC childcare course
will be given once the National Qualifications Framework becomes operational although
training being offered by ETC is claimed17 to be equivalent to an NVQ Level 316.
MCAST offers a two-year full-time course leading to a BTEC National Diploma in
Early Years. According to published course information, “this course is designed to en-
able students to work with children in a professional capacity. The qualifications provide
the knowledge, skills and understanding required for working in a care or early years
environment”17. Several study units are undertaken during the course including ten core
units and seven specialist ones18. Supervised placements are also incorporated in the
course. Practical components are done with babies, toddlers and infants. The BTEC Na-
tional Diploma in Early Years is meant to prepare personnel to work with children from
birth to five. This cut-off point is promoted locally since a university qualification (a
16
This has been checked against British NVQ curricula such as CACHE.
17
http://www.mcast.edu.mt/institutes_communityservices.asp#6. Accessed on June 9th 2007
18
Course work in the first year includes Equality, diversity and Rights in Early Years Work; Communication and Interper-
sonal Skills in Early Years Work; Learning in the Early Years; Professional Practice; Human Growth and Develop-
ment; Observation of Children; Play and Learning Activities; Developmental Psychology
Supporting Numeracy Skills; Supporting Literacy Skills. Course work in the second year includes Protection of Chil-
dren; Child Care Practice; Professional Practice; Research Methodology for the Early Years; Child Health;
Sociology for the Early Years; Children with Special Needs; Design and Technology for the Early Years Practitioner;
Special Needs; Physical Activities; Early Years Project
13four-year full-time B.Ed.(Hons.)) is required for teachers who want to work with children
aged five and over, this being the start of compulsory schooling. MCAST accept twenty-
five students on the course each year. To date, all students have been female.
The BTEC National Diploma in Early Years was introduced in 2003 when the two-
year Education Division certificate course for Kindergarten Assistants was phased out.
Ironically, the Education Division does not recognise the BTEC qualification as a suffi-
cient one for Kindergarten Assistants. An agreement has been reached between the Edu-
cation Division and MCAST to top-up the BTEC qualification with a 12 week supervised
placement in a Kindergarten centre. This implies that currently there are no specific pre-
service courses for people who are interested in working with three and four-year-old
children.
Between 1993 and 2003, the Education Division organised and ran a two-year course
leading to a certificate in Early Childhood Education. This was the first attempt at having
formal training for people wanting to work with three to five-year-old children. The
course had a strong practical component in addition to the theoretical areas. Although the
course became mandatory and employers in the private sector were to employ staff with
this qualification, hardly any Kindergarten assistants in possession of this two-year quali-
fication ever found employment in the State sector. The results of data collected in 2005
to establish qualifications of the work force, indicated that only 14 (3.7%) of 38219 KG
assistants in state schools are in possession of the two-year certification (MEYE, 2006).
The overwhelming majority of KG assistants currently employed in the state sector have
been working in the field since the centres were opened in 1975 and 1988. Recruitment
procedures then required potential staff to be in possession of four GCE ‘O’ level certifi-
cates and upon employment, they followed a six-week training period.
Kindergarten staff in church schools fared better with 26.3% (15 out of 57 respon-
dents) having the two-year qualification. In Independent schools, 9.9% (7 of 71 respon-
dents) of KG staff are in possession of the two-year qualification. Within the church and
private sectors, there is also a significant number of staff who claim to have followed
Montessori courses: 19.3% (N=11), 16.9% (N=12) in the Church and Independent sectors
respectively. Only 1 KG assistant working in the State sector mentioned a Montessori
diploma. There were variations in the duration of the Montessori courses reported with
some respondents claiming a one-year diploma and others reporting a two-year course
(MEYE, 2006).
Table 11 provides details about the number of KG assistants currently working with
three and four-year-olds.
Independent schools
State Schools Church schools
Full-time Part-time
MALTA 356 51 28 67
GOZO 33 16 --- ---
Total 389 67 28 67
Tab. 11 Number of KG assistants (2006-2007); Source: Education Division personnel
KG assistants have a starting salary of 2182.56 Euros. The salary increases to 2307
Euros following five years in the service and 2447 Euros after a further eight years in the
19
The total cohort of state KG assistants in 2005 was 387.
14service20. They earn less than University-qualified teachers who work with children aged
five or more. They are in fact referred to as assistants not because they assist anyone but
because they are not qualified in the same way as teachers.
KG assistants are expected to follow in-service courses which are predominantly or-
ganised by the Education Division. However the courses they apply for and attend do not
necessarily address professional issues directly concerning the age-group of children they
work with. The in-service courses offered to KG assistants and teachers are three-day
courses which take place at the end or beginning of a scholastic year21. This suggests that
although participants do attend for courses which they are interested in, there is no grad-
ual or sequential accumulation of courses which contribute to a growing knowledge base
focused on early childhood education.
An exhaustive list of courses made available over the years for KG staff is hard to
come by. Data collected in 2005 requesting KG staff to indicate training courses they had
attended illustrates that over the years, different entities did organise training specifically
addressing KG assistants (Table 12). Six of the courses referred to were the on-the-job
training given to the first KG assistants upon employment. Current documentation about
the in-service courses available for 200722 suggests that only two College-based courses23
are directly addressed to staff in the sector. College-based courses are developed on the
initiative of the College co-ordinators. One of the courses will focus on Non-directive
play skills in KG classes and a second course will focus on Using Creative play effec-
tively. For KG assistants working in these particular college networks, the courses are
compulsory.
Certificates of attendance are usually awarded to participants at the end of the course.
Title of course Date Duration/Details
th st
Training programme for KG 5 May to 31 July, 1975 full days
assistants
Training programme for KG 1st to 18th September 1975 full days
assistants
Training programme for KG 8th Jan to 13th February 1976 Evenings
assistants
Kindergarten Education 16th July to 31st August 1976 6 weeks
th th
Kindergarten Special Primary 4 to 12 December 1979 12 hours
Nursing for KG 1983 17.5 hours
Problems of speech and lan- February 1984
guage
Pre-school education 20th to 30th July 1987 30 hours
Pre-school education October to December 1988 30 hour
Pre-school education 1989 20 hours
20
MUT (2007). Pay/Conditions. http://www.mut.org.mt/conditions.htm; Accessed June 12th 2007.
21
In-service courses take place in July and September. KG assistants and teachers are obliged to attend an in-service course
every two years.
22
A copy of the Catalogue of in-service training courses on offer for 2007 can be downloaded from
http://www.curriculum.gov.mt/docs/in_service_courses_2007.pdf
23
Since 2005, Government schools have been grouped into networks to incorporate a number of primary schools in an area
together with the receiving secondary schools into Colleges. Apart from the Heads of school who administer specific
schools, there are now College Co-ordinators who are responsible for the management and administration of an entire
network or college.
15Title of course Date Duration/Details
KG education September to December 1990 75 hours
Toy making with children April – May 1991 MUS, University of Malta
The contribution of physical 1991 MUS, University of Malta
activity to development in the
early years
Reading and writing in the May – June 1992 MUS, University of Malta
infant classroom
Creativity in the KG class Sept 1995 In-service course; 12 hours
th th
Learning in the KG 4 to 8 July 1997
Science in Early Childhood 7th to 14th July 1998 24 hrs
th rd
Early Childhood Education 15 to 23 Sept 1998 In-service course; 20 hours
th nd
Early learning – make it easy, 15 to 22 Sept 1999 In-service course; 20 hours
make it fun
Putting play on the KG 6th to 10th November 2000
agenda
Implementing a high quality 4th to 6th June 2001
curriculum
The way forward 29th & 31st October 2002 Focus group NMC
th th
Towards an ECE curriculum 26 – 29 November 2002 Focus group NMC
th th
Thinking is fun for everyone 15 – 17 September 2003 In-service course; 12 hours
Sharing nature with children 7th to 9th July 2003 12 hours (BirdLife, Malta)
Art through creative play 2004 In-service course
Cooking is fun …for everyone 2004 In-service course
th th
Putting fun in Maths (Abacus) 27 to 29 September 2004 In-service course; 3 days
th st
Starting from the child: Obser- 30 – 31 August 2004 8 hours, University of Malta
vation & assessment in early
childhood education
Cooking – a tool for better 2005 In-service course
learning
Tab. 12 Selected list of in-service courses followed by KG assistants; Source: Early
Childhood Education & Care – A national policy 2006
Conclusion
One of the main issues, which needs to be urgently addressed in the Maltese Early Child-
hood Education and Care system, concerns training of practitioners, predominantly for
staff who will be working with the under-fives. Whilst a number of European countries
offer at least three-year university degree courses at undergraduate level in the field of
early childhood education and care, the training currently on offer is not conducted within
a University degree programme but at the vocational school. The B.Ed. degree in Primary
Education has a small number of study units aimed specifically at early childhood educa-
tion but these modules focus on children aged 5 to 7. One of the recommendations made
in the Early Childhood Policy document (MEYE, 2006) was for a university-qualified
16teacher together with an assistant to accompany every group of three to five-year-old
children. Naturally, such a change needs to be implemented gradually to give opportuni-
ties to current practitioners to up-grade their status. This implies finding ways of ac-
knowledging prior learning and experience, in addition to furthering studies.
Expertise in the field is highly limited and to date, individuals who want to deepen
their studies in the area have to do so abroad or follow courses with foreign universities
by correspondence. With the support of EU funding, a post-graduate degree in early
childhood education has just been developed and will be starting in Autumn 2007. This
will go some way to producing graduates who can in turn support practitioners in plan-
ning and reflecting upon good practice as well as support policy makers in designing and
implementing appropriate practices which recognise and value learning processes
amongst young learners.
A second issue relates to the responsibilities for provision: having two Ministries re-
sponsible for diverse forms of early childhood services requires more effort and co-
ordination to ensure equal access to good, quality services as well as policies which make
children’s transition from one type of provision to another as seamless as possible. Given
the isolated way in which most child-care centres operate, and unless children have been
registered at the same centre for child-care, KG services and formal schooling, it is very
difficult to find transition policies between services. Receiving centres and schools do not
necessarily have any knowledge or information about the children and their achievements
during the time they would have spent in a previous setting.
Issues related to financing are a further priority. Whether in the form of subsidies to
registered centres who are applying the standards or to parents who make use of child-
care facilities, whether it’s in the form of stronger financial, parental support in the first
year of a child’s life, flexi-time measures at the places of work or accessibility to and
affordability of after-school activities, together with increases in wages for practitioners
working with the under-fives, the local Government and private enterprises have to tap
sources which will make the early childhood sector sustainable for all involved.
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